The legacy of a remarkable Rutherford County Boy Scout leader will be memorialized as the name of a new Scout wilderness area camp through a $1 million donation from local philanthropist and retired business leader Richard F. “Ted” and Gloria LaRoche, Jr., in the name of his late Scoutmaster.

The seven-figure donation is part of the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America capital campaign for the purchase of a 1,587-acre wilderness area on the border of White and Van Buren counties.

LaRoche is a member of the capital campaign committee, which is chaired by Lee and Kelley Beaman. At LaRoche’s request, the Council has agreed to name one of the camps at its new wilderness area after his Scoutmaster from 1959, the late Percy Dempsey, Sr.

Dempsey served as Scoutmaster of Troop 359 in Rutherford County for nearly 30 years and was also a member of the Middle Tennessee Council’s executive board. Under his leadership, 53 young men earned the rank of Eagle Scout, including such notables as 16th Judicial District Chancellor Bob Corlew, ParkTrust Development CEO John Harney, Nashville attorney Pete Ezell, Middle Tennessee Council Development Director Don McKinney, and, of course, LaRoche.

“He meant a lot to a bunch of us. This is going to be from all of us. I’m going to list all 53 of his Eagles on the plaque,” LaRoche said.

“He was a tremendous influence not only on my life and his Eagles, but also the many young men who went through Scouting with him in his 30 years _ it must be 1,000-1,500,” LaRoche added.

Dempsey received a Bronze Star while serving with the 30th Infantry Division in World War II and retired from the U.S. Department of Defense as Deputy Accounting and Finance Officer after 35 years of service.

Dempsey passed away in March 2006, shortly after his wife Lucy.

In addition to “Camp Dempsey” at the Middle Tennessee Council’s new Wilderness/High Adventure Reservation, there is also a “Spirit of Scouting” award named in Dempsey’s honor that is awarded annually to a Scout leader in the Trail of Tears district.

LaRoche is a retired senior vice president for National HealthCare Corporation. He served Rutherford County as a county commissioner for seven years and remains a member of the Murfreesboro City School Foundation, the Tennessee Democratic Finance Council, the Rutherford County Center for the Arts, the Discovery Center at Murfree Springs, and the Linebaugh Library Foundation. LaRoche also served as Friends of Scouting chairman for his district in 2003 and 2004 and was the recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2007 and Council’s coveted Silver Beaver award, the highest national honor a local Council can bestow on a local volunteer.

The Council completed the purchase of its new property in Van Buren and White counties last month. The Council plans to immediately build a Wilderness/High Adventure Reservation on the property that will be available to all local Scouts, as well as other collaborative non-profit and state government organizations.

The Middle Tennessee Council has launched a capital campaign to raise a total of $7 million to cover the land deal, loan interest, renovations, equipment and other essentials to assure youth and adults get the maximum benefit from this new asset.

The Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America serves more than 50,000 youth and adult volunteers in a 37-county area extending from the Tennessee River to the Upper Cumberland Plateau and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Boy Scouts programs consist of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturing, Exploring and Learning for Life.

 Murfreesboro Post - Murfreesboro,TN,USA